Calling all Male Champions of Change

Exciting news this month that Sydney Australia has won the bid to host the “Davos” of women – the Global Summit of Women 2018. It was backed by leading business and political leaders who want to showcase Australia as a nation striving for gender equality. But how did they win- what are Australia doing differently? A key part of the answer is the focus on engaging men.

One of Australia’s world leading initiatives is the powerful Male Champions of Change programme – brainchild of outgoing Sex Discrimination Commissioner Liz Broderick. She persuaded many of “the most powerful men in the country” to publicly commit to being part of the group, which engages powerful and influential men from all sectors to stand beside women and lead tangible action to promote gender equality and social change.

The group is still active and has inspired the creation of many MCC groups in other sectors. It has now gone global as she steps up to a senior advisor role in the United Nations to help engage more powerful men in the corporate sector.

A recent report by EY found that tapping into women’s global potential could be the equivalent of having another 1 billion people in business and the workforce. EY’s report, Women the Next Emerging Market, states that over the next decade the impact of women on the global economy will be equivalent to that of China and India combined.

There is a clear opportunity for powerful and influential men in UK business to be the leaders of this change. Some first steps would be to sign up to be a Male Champion of Change and book in for the Global Summit next year in Sydney. Dates have not yet been released but we will let you know ASAP.